Indian Ethics

Purushottama Bilimoria is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Studies at Deakin University, Visiting Professor SUNY, Stony Brook, and Columbia University New York, an Editor-in-Chief of Sophia, and Senior Fellow at University of Melbourne, Australia. Joseph Prabhu is Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Los Angeles, USA, and current President-Elect of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy. Renuka Sharma is formerly of the University of Melbourne, Australia and was a medical and psychoanalytic practitioner, feminist philosopher, and social activist in Australia and India.

Contents: Preface; General introduction: Thinking ethics, the West and India. Introduction to Part A Early Indian Ethics - Vedas to the Gita; dharma, rites to 'Right': Dharma, imperatives, and tradition: toward an Indian theory of moral action, J.N. Mohanty; Dharma and rationality, Bimal Krishna Matilal; The myth of the ethics of Purusartha or humanity's life-goals, Daya Krishna; The fires of strangers: a Levinasian approach to Vedic ethics, Laurie L. Patton; Samkhya-Yoga ethics, Roy W. Perrett; Ethics of liberation in Patanjali's yoga, Ian Whicher; Karma's suffering: a Mimamsa solution to the problem of evil, Purushottama Bilimoria; Dana as a moral category, Maria Heim. Introduction to Part B: Buddhist and Jain Approaches to Ethical Decision Making: Purgation and virtue in Jainism: toward an ecological ethic, Christopher Key Chapple; Buddhist ethical theory, Padmasiri de Silva; Are there 'human rights' in Buddhism?, Damien Keown; Buddhism and democracy, Jay L. Garfield; Buddhist reductionism and the structure of Buddhist ethics, Mark Siderits; Animal ethics and ecology in classical India - reflections on a moral tradition, M.K. Sridhar and Purushottama Bilimoria. Introduction to Part C: Reflections on Moral Ideals and Modernity; Ghandi and Nonviolence: Hindu theory of tolerance, Bhikhu Parekh; Action oriented morality in Hinduism, Christopher Key Chapple; The ethical irrationality of the world: Weber and Hindu ethics, Pratap Bhanu Mehta; Social injustice, retribution and revenge: a normative analysis of the contemporary social scene, Rajendra Prasad; Gandhi, empire and a culture of peace, Joseph Prabhu; Ethical skepticism in the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, Stephen Philips. Index.